CURRENT TOPICS.

New Zealand Mail, 15 February 1900, Page 43

CURRENT TOPICS.

UNITED STATES NAVY. The Naval Board of Construction has unanimously adopted for Secretary Long’s guidance .a shipbuilding programme numerically surpassing any hitherto proposed. Eighteen vessels ' are recommended to be built for ipi- .! mediate needs. twelve are merely , gunboats, ranging down to a minimum ; of feuO tons, adapted for rkrav work in ' the Philippines. Three are called ' armoured cruisers, and represent an ambitious attempt efficiently to unite battleships with a speed inferior _• to nothing of their class. Each is to have a tonnage of 13,500, and is to surpass ; any American battleship or British cruiser. The tonnage is nearly half ' above that of the Brooklyn, whose' speed of 22 knots is inferior to what 1 is now designed. The vessels are to '] have lOin rifles instead of the Brook- : lyn s Bin. The remaining three vessels are to bo protected cruisers of 8000 1 <tons —2000 tons larger than vessels of * type as hitherto proposed, and 1 1000 tons below the Brooklyn. Their 1 greater size is intended to give, them 1 an offensive capacity superior to that ; or mere commerce destroyers, and 1 equal to that of the present Brooklyn ' ojass, or even to that of such battle- 1 as tho Texas. . " . < WIVES AND WAGES. % ’]

According to tho last census, 85 per ’ cent, of the housekeepers in the United 1 mates do their own work, earning their ] mug quite as fairly as those who go out > uito the world to work for wages. The i at j.fhat au industrious wife is legally j ntitled to something more than mere ] upport is illustrated by the following incident, reported in the “New York j i 11 • T\ ,-^ n °ld farmer died down in the neighbourhood of Cape Cod. His , ,-\ rs v '® re avaricious, and grudged the , widow her right to the use of a -third flaw 1 vu es tate. They hunted out ' a i ~ the mamage, and finally found c dent’ t l r ° U " h a totally unsuspected acci- i so nf n ° Wa ? n ,°t legally a widow, and estate bad no legal claim on the c the Tiirlr^? 0 , c “ 9 , ra a hard one, and < brincr i n V the °- d wo ™ an to 1 had Hnl .. or her services, since she + fo7a dna e aU the old man’s house work t her hushafid T* 7 years ' If he was not c her dohki he was nofc entitled to have T wado 0 M ho, i s ®- work for nothing. She ] ' dinary rate n?' aCC ° rdi, ? gly > at the or- i servant-" mi, wages paid a domestic i It »*?»*■* allowed her claim, jtook the whelo estate to pay it, and t

the over-greedy heirs got nothing: Of course, she had been ‘supported" duriS pjyfe® but, with the discover?' that she was'not the man’s wife cS tne other discovery' that lier suppmt iSZLV* Oo ‘ » l” 11 eiuiralant fo? P fi

DEATH OF THE CHEVALIER DE ' EONTSKI. n d . e£ f t . k °[ the Chevalier Antoine' <le Kontski, at the advanced ae“ of cighty-two, • is announced from lfis nv tive Cracow. Chevalier de Koritski visN Ibont Th ZealaHd on a concert tour about^ three years ago. The “Daily News says of him that “he was, five-' and-twenty years since, a well-known figure in London musical life. Indeed some of his fashionable pianoforte pi* ed h Relrf C T^ rly > tt6 stiH-recollect-ed Rcveil du Lion,’ and the ‘ Souvenir o 7; B i ritZ ’- were at 0!le time jilayed in every _ drawing and school-room. De T aS * merely a su Perficial musithA ’wir he i Wa ? a ? ejceUent pianist of the brilliant school of which Thalberg was the principal exponent. He was particularly noted for the delicacy of his' touch and the refinement of his playing. 18 , 17 h he was a Pnpil at Warsaw' of Markendorf : and at Moscow, in 1830: of Russian’ Field. He lived for some years in Pans, and afterwards at Berlin' 2 er ® J? was Prussian Court pianist) and at St. Petersnurg. About thirty years ago lie settled in London, where iie lesided for many years, until, at the TtnV?! T ar -7 seventy, ho emigrated toBuffalo, United States. From there he . sey ?ral tours'in the Far East,. -A’i J t. ls the first pianist to give ci a s m China and Japan. Even clown. a , r couple of years ago, when he was. eighty years of age, he was still touring, and was certainly the doyen of his fession. When Chevalier de Kontski visited New Zealand, he was advertised as the only living pupil of Beethoven.”

THE PORT OF WELLINGTON. The Wellington wharves and stores are almost choked with business at the present time. Wool lias come forward in gieat quantities, and hemp is maintaining a steady volume. It has become necessary m consequence to utilise all available storage accommodation, and to seen the assistance of some of the warehouses to provide repositories for the surplus. Aii of which goes to show that the go-ahead policy of the Harbour Board has been' dictated by rare pre.smence and good sense. The members ot the Board have always appreciated to the utmost the potentialiticsmf Wellington as a port; and, haviiiT "made provision accordingly, are prepared to meet almost every emergency. Until the Queen’s wharf lias been completed and piojected extensions of other wharves made, there is no surety against severe pressure upon resources during certain periods of the year. These works are, however, to be pushed on completed will no doubt add to Wellington’s reputation as,.a thoroughly well-equipped port. CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. It may be observed that this is a colonial institution, the merits of which are not as widely known as they ought to be. The-advantages to be obtained

from attending, a course of instruction at the Agricultural College at-Lincoln are not to be' lightly estimated. The aim of the college is to afford those iiir tending to look to farming for a livelihood the opportunity of acquiring . a thorough knowledge of the science and practice of agriculture. All examinations in science and practical farm work are now conducted by external examiners' of standing in their own depart menis of knowledge. The college grant.? a dipxoma, which embraces both scientific and practical farm work, and is the highest distinction conferred. Beside? this, the board gives six scholarships of £2O each every year. The. fees arc £4O per annum, and are only intended to coyer the cost of maintenance, so that tuition is practically free. Moreover, students have an opportunity of eafning a considerable sum of money for work done on the farm, and the cost of maintenance to deserving. students is thus considerably reduced. Lectures begin about the second week in March, up to which, date students can be admitted for the first term of the current year. The college has all requisites necessary to the acquirement of a thorough knowledge of agriculture in all its branches, and any colonial youth bent on pursuing farming as an avocation would do well to avail himself of the training the college offers. ■"

THE SCHREINER FAMILY. The Schreiner family must be a curious menage. The gifted Olive, the erratic creator of “An African Farm,” has let her pro-Boer sentiments run away with her reason to such an extent that she stands a very good chance of being attainted for high treason. A couple of centuries ago lier head would have* long* since parted company with her shoulders. And now comes her religious brother Theodore, flatly giving the lie to liis sister the authoress and his brother the Premier of Cape Colony. Theodore writes that as far back as 1882 he was asked to join in the conspiracy for overturning British rale and establishing Dutch supremacy at the Cape. He indignantlv refused to join any such movement, and claims that it was not the British Government, but the two

St<?vn b u !< i d by . Kruger. Reitz and Wl \° lave been steadily- marchmg towards war, arid, were consciously ered 3 f ° 1 ’ lt before g° ld 'vas discovALLEGED DISCOVERY OF OPHIR. Pet J er . s ’ tb © African explorer, has given certain details regarding his°f ophir - < Vr Peters, in the °/ T a r ecent interview, said that he had this summer explored the countiy between the Zambesi and the PungPo rt ese Eaet Africa and Eas |_ enx Mashmmland. Before he had started from England lie had acquired geographical information which °led him to believe that Fura was near the eastern entrance of tho Lupata Gorge. There he had rli r- rt V as situated on the banks ot the Mrnra river about 15 miles south ot the Zambesi, and lialf-way between Sena and Tete. At the time of liis discovery he had with him Mr Puzey and two mining engineers—Mr Gramanii and Mi rsiapolski. Fura was the native corruption of the work Afur, by which name the Arabs of the 16tli century knew the district. Afur was the Sabaean, or South Arabian, form of the Hebrew namo Opfiir. He had ample proor that the Fura which they discovered and explored last summer was the Oplnr or the Old Testament. The natives called themselves Makalanga which means People of the Sun. They were to this day sun and fire-worship-pers. They were quite unlike the or-

dinary African, and had a distinct Jewlslu type of face. On arriving in the district he soon found that the natives had some idea of .the existence of tho ancient Ophir. in fact, they washed gold themselves after the rainy season and after storing it in quills did a fairly large tvade in it with Beira and Teti. h ch ier gave him valuable information regarding the position of ancient ruins ond workings which lie had once investigated. Going to the spot indicated ho round ancient ruins of undoubtedly Semitic type. Fura itself lie found to j assess a formation of quartzitic slate and diorite between which gold reefs were running. The ancient workings which-he found were not only surface workings, but there were also shafts and roads hewn into the rock. THE SAN FRANCISCO SERVICE. A Washington despatch says the United States postal authorities have signed a call for bids for furnishing improved mail services between San Francisco and Sydney. N.S.W., for an optional term of either five or ten years,

beginning November Ist, 1900, under the Subsidy Act of 1891. The chief significance of the action is the substitution of vessels of American register in the Pacific service, the enlargement of the service to seventeen outward trips per year instead of fourteen, and an expected saving of four clays in the passage, thus, in connection with expedited railway- mail service, making the shortu est-route possible between Sydney, New York and London. Bids, which" are to be received until March 31st next, must provide for steamers of the secondclass, of not less than 5000 tons nor less than sixteen knots speed, and stops are to be made at Honolulu, Hawaii, Apia, Samoa and such.other points as the Postmaster-General may select. RAILWAY RETURNS. The revenue and expenditure in connection with the Government railways for the four weeks ending 6th January are published' in this week’s “Gazette.” The' revenue totalled £149,800 18s Id, the total to date for the financial year being £1,201,187 19s. The expenditure roT. the four weeks amounted to £75,094 6s 9d, and for the financial year to date it totals £791,965 13s 6d. The percentage' of expenditure to revenue for the financial year to date is 65.93. For the corresponding period of last year the' revenue for the four-weekly period was £137,424 17s, and the total for the financial year to date was £1,090,697 Is 2d. The expenditure for the. four-weekly period was £68,663 2s Id,..and for the, financial year to date £710,644 14s 3d, while the percentage of expenditure to revenue was 65.15. 0n... the WeUington-Napier-New Plymouth section during the four-weekly period the total number of passengers carried was 188,238, as compared with 172,519 for the corresponding period of 1899. The revenue on this section totalled £41,490, made up as follows: Passengers, £17,112 19s 3d: parcels, luggage and mails, £2079 5s 8d ; goods, £20,437 12s; miscellaneous, £437 9s 5d v rents and ■ commission, £1422 13s 10d. The revenue for the same period of -1899 was £38,628. The number of parcels carried for the four weeks ending January 6 totalled 17,127, against 16,479 for the corresponding period of

*899; goods (drays, cattle, calves, sheep, pigs) 88,757, against 108,505; chaff, lime etc., wool, firewood, timber, grain, merchandise and minerals, 33,401 tons, against 31,144 tons.

CARE OF INFANT LIFE. The directors of the Benevolent Society of New South Wales, in their report, presented at the annual meeting of the institution, referred to the alarming increase of infant desertion. Notwithstanding the fact that tho Benevolent Asylum was always open for the_ reception of illegitimate offspring, and that, consequently, no palliating circumstances exist, for child abandonment or infanticide, the direc-

~ Jl * w 11 i ■! an '■ <mii tors regretted to report that the past year’s record showed a startling increase in cases of the kind. ; The number of foundlings, for instance, received at the institution during the year was 27, as compared with 7 in the precedlug year. While admitting that the drastic provisions of the Caildren’s Protection Act 'had for gear's* beejii the means of reducing a crime tlidt had grown to alarming proportions, the past yeai s accounts were considered’ somewhat discouraging. Many of the infants had been abandoned under circumstances which gave rise 'to the theory that the same person or persons were, iff many instances, responsible for the crime. The directors, therefore, trusted that those charged with the administration of the Act would cause investigation to be made, and that duo regard would be paid to the yearly increasing populatioa of the colonv, and to proportionately increase tho staff of investigation, so as to keep in check a crime that existed more or less in all large centres of population. Surprise was also expressed in the report that the Courts of justice did not deal mere severely with so heartless a crime as infant abandonment.

NEW ZEALAND. NEWEST ENGLAND. Li the latest issue of the “Atlantic Monthly” appears an article entitled New Zealand, Newest England,” from the pen of Mr H. D. Lloyd, who visited the colony about a year ago; “New Zealand democracy,” he says, “is the taik orthe world to-day. It lias made itself the policeman and partner of industry to an extent' unknown elsewhere. New Zealand is the ‘experiment station’ of advanced legislation. Reforms that others have only been talking about, New Zealand has put m practice, and it has anticipated the others in some they had not' even begun to talk about.” The New Zealand climate Mr Lloyd compares to “a wme with no headache in it,” while

the scenery is “a synopsis of the best of Norway, Switzerland, Italy and England, with occasional patches of the desert of Sahara in the pumice country around the hot lakes.” The debt, he states, is larger in proportion than in any other country, even France, but its policy of prosperity for all, instCcid of gxcgss for & f©Wj will prev£,irt ror many ages the appearance in New Zealand of any concentrated splendour to tempt the cupidity of enemies.” New Zealand, the writer declares, is too tai tiom Australia, for federation, and he goes on to state that it is the most piosperous of the seven colonies of Australasia. It- has practically every resource for the support of life and the c * ea V on °f wealth, in another portion of the article Mr Lloydi remarks: . t here are earthquakes and volcanoes in New Zealand, and some of the Conservatives there number with them the progressive land tax, the graduated income tax, the labour legislation and old age pensions. The traveller sees in and out of museums many varieties of the wingless birds peculiar to New Zealand; and if he is a democratic trar veller he will think that not the least interesting among them are the capitalists, who have not ■ taken flight, 5.9 it was predicted they would, if arbitration were made compulsory, and the great estates resumed bv the Government and cut up into small farm? for closer settlement.” New Zealand, Mr Lloyd states, has reached no final . social solutions.” All the people claim is that they have tried to find solutxons, and they believe that the fairminded _ observer will declare that are entitled to “report progress" to the lest of mankind. “There are,” he says m conclusion, “no absolutely good governments or peoples, but some are not so bad as others, and for New Zealand it may be claimed that its government and its people are ‘the least had’ this side of Mars.” •

MR DOOLEY ON THE WAR. Mr Dooley, of the “ Times-Herald,” Chicago, has, hue others, beeit puzzled py the South. African despatches. He thinks they are written by an “English pete one of whose tales of battle Mr Dooley thus gives‘Las’ night at eight 0 cloce, he says, •we found our siendher but mthrepid ar-rmy surrounded by wan hundhred thousan’ Boers,’ he * ays ', Me attackted tbiin with gr-reat iury, he says, ‘pursuin’ thim up th’ almost inaccessible mountain-side, an’ capturin eight guns, which we didn’t

want, so we give thim back to thim, with several iv our own,’ he says Th’ Boers retreated’’ he says, ‘pursued by tn Davitfc Terrors, who cut their way through th fugitives with awful slauo-h, ter, he says. ‘They have now,’ ho says pinethrated as far as Pretoria!’ he says th officers arrivin’ in first-class carriages an th men in thrucks,’ he says, ‘an’

ar-re camped in th’ bettin’ shed, wl-mv> they ar-re afforded ivry attintion be IT’ vanquished nnmy,’ he says. ‘As f’r il3 ’ ho says, ‘we decided, afther th’ victhrv, to light ouo f r LadysirJith,’ he says. ‘Tli’ eVv 7 ,, . s ’- ’pilar intintions,’ lie says ' l ep ' Kk ’ d has been vastly overrated, ho says. ‘We bate thim,’ he says—-‘ we bate thim be thirty miles,’ lie says.” ’

Miss Zoe Karkeek, for the past eight years a prominent member. of the Pollard Opera Company, is leaving, for San riancisco by the next mailboat to reioia her parents. Before'Miss Karkeek "left Christchurch, the members of tho company presented her with several tokens of their esteem.